Excerpt
The built environment–the physical world made up of the homes, buildings, streets, and infrastructure within which people live, work, and play–underwent changes during the 20th and 21st centuries that contributed to a sharp decline in physical activity and affected access to healthy foods. Those developments contributed in turn to the weight gain observed among Americans in recent decades. Many believe, therefore, that policies and practices that affect the built environment could affect obesity rates in the United States and improve the health of Americans.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop in September 2017 to improve understanding of the roles played by the built environment in the prevention and treatment of obesity and to identify promising strategies in multiple sectors that can be scaled up to create more healthful and equitable environments. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.
Copyright 2018 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Grants and funding
This activity was supported in part by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; Alliance for a Healthier Generation; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the American College of Sports Medicine; the American Council on Exercise; the American Heart Association; the American Society for Nutrition; the Bipartisan Policy Center; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation; The California Endowment; ChildObesity180/Tufts University; Chobani; Edelman; General Mills; the Greater Rochester Health Foundation; Health Partners, Inc.; The JPB Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; The Kresge Foundation; Mars, Inc.; the National Recreation and Park Association; Nemours; Nestlé Nutrition; Nestlé USA; Novo Nordisk; the Obesity Action Coalition; The Obesity Society; Partnership for a Healthier America; Reebok, International; The Reinvestment Fund; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Salud America!; Weight Watchers International, Inc.; and YMCA of the USA. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.